Read other farm writers' blogs

My blog — that's the thing you're reading right now — has become an important tool for my job as Grainews editor. I can post a question, and I'll usually get a few good responses from readers like you. I can then use these responses to form articles in upcoming Grainews issues. For example, a couple weeks ago I asked whether anyone had heard of farmers using grain vacs to fill bins. Turns out Jason Finnie from Portage la Prairie, Man., uses a Thor Conveyair (now owned by Buhler Farm King) grain vac to blow wheat or oats into the top of his 90-foot Harvestore silo — which he now uses a massive grain bin. Look for an article about this in early 2010.

Last week I wrote about the Cross Slot opener from New Zealand. In response 

to that blog, someone sent me the name of a farmer from Alberta who has a drill equipped with these openers. I asked Scott Garvey to follow up. That article will also appear in Grainews in early 2010.

In time, I believe blogs will become more and more important for conveying farm news and for improving the way I and other farm writers respond to farmer comments and pressing farm issues.

Other blogs

Many other leading farm journalists from around the world have blogs. Mike Wilson (see photo), president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists and executive editor of Farm Futures magazine, based in Decatur, Illinois, will be adding my blog to the IFAJ list. His blog is also on the list.

Mike is a great guy. I reconnected with him at the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation conference in Edmonton in September. Before that, he and I spent a week together in Germany in 2003 on a tour of Claas's combine facility and a bunch of interesting farm stops. He was back in Germany in November for Agritechnica. Click here to read his report. If you follow blogs that you think other farmers would be interested in, email me and I'll share the links.